


We let our battles choose us

by tisktisk (PornyZiallFeels)



Series: Loving You Is Easy [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Coffee Shop Fic, M/M, slaggish zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-15 02:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1287256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PornyZiallFeels/pseuds/tisktisk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's having a no good very bad day</p>
            </blockquote>





	We let our battles choose us

This hasn't been Harry's day.

From the time he'd woken up with a face full of water courtesy of the git upstairs. His neighbor Zayn, who'd fallen asleep with a lit cigarette and put a hole in his waterbed (which was against the building's policy to begin with) but the self-proclaimed player had insisted the waterbed helped with his mojo and had immediately rushed down to apologize to Harry, dressed in only his pants, his flavor of the night trailing behind who come to think of it Harry remembers seeing sneaking out their apartment building a few times before.

This was odd because Zayn never did repeats it was one of the cardinal rules he'd set up for himself. Harry had rolled his eyes when the darker boy first came down for a cuppa all those months ago and ended up staying and actually trying to pull him.

Harry would've gone for it too if he hadn't already seen Zayn stumble into the building drunk on four separate occasions with a different young thing on his arm each time, he figured they were leagues apart in that respect. They quickly decided to just be mates instead and so Harry was stuck sitting up over cups of tea while Zayn tried to regale him with tales of his most successful one night stands.

When Harry asked how he did it, the meaningless sex every night. Zayn had chuckled, calling him a sap and proceeded to list his ten or so rules that he abided by. Harry couldn't remember them all but he did recall no repeat costumers being high on the list along with always using a condom, no attachments, he wasn't allowed to take the boy of the night on anything that even resembled a 'date' and Zayn _always_ topped.

Harry had snorted at the very last of them but he knew the darker boy stayed true to his rules more or less because with his own life being so pathetically unexciting he’d taken to living vicariously through his neighbor.

“I’m so sorry Haz I...” Zayn started only to be interrupted by the taller bloke with arms that nearly had Harry drooling on sight.

“It’s _my_ fault really, he’d thought I was still sleeping when he lit up a cigarette but I surprised him with a good morning blowjob, uh.” Mr. Muscles began the flush from his neck up to his ears, gulping he continued.

“He says he thought he rested it in the ashtray on his bedside table but must’ve missed because there’s now a flood upstairs as I’d imagine you’re already all too aware of.” He trailed off taking in Harry’s still dripping form, before his eyes quickly darted back up to his face when he realized Harry had answered the door completely starkers. The younger boy barely flinched not giving a single fuck who saw him naked there was no shame in his game and all that.

“Anyway I’m terribly sorry Harry.”

 _He knows my name_? Is the first thing Harry thought as he took in the stricken man before him, lip caught between his teeth as he awaited his response. That was new, Zayn’s pulls had never meant enough to meet Harry let alone know of him, turning to Zayn he raised a single speculative eyebrow that had the older boy fidgeting a bit in his doorway which Harry found very interesting, _ah so the plot thickens_. He returned his attention to Zayn’s company, his eyes landing on those irresistibly pink pouty lips of his as they opened once more to speak.

“Oh I’m Liam by the way, hello.” Liam moved as if to stick his hand out for a shake but then seemed to think better of it and simply offered him a tiny wave instead.

And oh _Liam_ , Zayn’s actually mentioned him before during a commercial break of their weekly X factor viewing parties. Liam was apparently the one that got away. A boy Zayn went to school with who he’d fancied from afar because Liam had been a popular sort, typical jock and all around boy next door type that hadn’t even known Zayn was alive.

“I was a bit of a loner yeah? Only went to the classes that counted you know test days, quite enjoyed art class though—never missed that one.”

Zayn explained with a shrug. Harry had rolled his eyes at this information and given the near solitary lifestyle that Zayn currently led Harry couldn’t say this came as much of a shocker, aside from him and the parade of men and women coming in and out of the older man’s apartment like it had a bloody revolving door, Zayn kept mostly to himself.

He called home every week and on a very few occasions he’d go out to the pub with a few c/o workers who’d twisted his arm into it, but that was it. He usually stayed in to catch up on his sleep, to smoke or watch a bit of footie.

But he had run into Liam again quite unexpectedly when the former athlete came to dine in the upscale restaurant where Zayn waited tables at. Liam had entered with this tall poncey looking bloke with greasy blonde hair and a cell phone permanently attached to him.

Zayn had noticed Liam as he entered but just thought he was some really fit chap with an ass he’d love to bury himself in. It had been Liam to make the recognition, eyes lighting up when Zayn approached their table to recite the more pricy entrées he was meant to push and ask for their drink orders. Zayn blinked confused eyes at the slick haired adonis only to do a double take and his mouth immediately went dry because it was Liam bloody Payne and he’d somehow managed to get even more attractive as if that were fair at all.

Zayn never one to be shaken lest of all show it, cleared his throat fixing Liam with his most fetching grin

“Liam Payne, small world innit?”

They spent the rest of the night chatting whenever they could get away with it so long as it didn’t get in the way of Zayn doing his job and Andy who Liam had introduced as his ‘mate’ but something in the split second of hesitation told Zayn that they were most likely more than, had barely looked up from his iPhone long enough to notice.

That was new however, this Liam dating blokes thing, he had been one of the straightest straight boys Zayn had ever known back in school dating his way through most of the cheerleading squad until he’d finally settled on Danielle their final year.

Harry had always assumed Liam was the reason behind Zayn’s commitment issues the fact that the one person he’d ever come close to being in love with no matter how adolescent said love had been, had not only not been returned but the fact that Liam hadn’t even acknowledged Zayn’s existence had to have been a crushing blow to Zayn’s young self-esteem not to mention his psyche.

Now staring at Liam he was even more convinced this were the case seeing as Zayn had already broken at least two of his rules for his former crush, if the telltale way the darker boy kept shifting his weight from side to side wincing a little as he tried to find a comfortable stance, it was pretty obvious at least to Harry that he’d gotten fucked last night.

“It’s quite alright Liam was it? I really hate sleeping in anyway...usually like being out for my daily jog by now.” Liam’s eyes lit up at that.

“Oh you jog? So do I maybe I can join you one of these mornings...” He seemed to catch himself midway through as his eyes darted over to Zayn’s wide own.

“...crap just look at me being so presumptuous, that was presumptuous of me wasn’t it?” Harry shrugged and tried to ease the other boy’s onset panic with a smile.

“Uh...I sure wouldn’t mind the company.” Liam relaxed slightly, still shooting cautious little glances at Zayn who was now studying where his bare toes dug into Harry’s plush carpet with far too great an interest.

“Well I imagine you’d like to get dried off or shower perhaps? So maybe we’ll just shove off and leave you to it?” Harry glanced down at his mostly dry body but didn’t argue that he could go for a shower.

“Alright, it was nice to finally meet you Liam; we’ll be in touch to work out some kind of jogging date yeah?” He finished with a playful wink that Liam looked all too grateful for as he nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes, yes we shall.” He slipped past Zayn and out the flat, leaving the darker boy dumbfounded and a bit at a loss for words. Finally he met Harry’s eyes and the taller boy looked from Zayn to Liam’s retreating back to Zayn again and raised a single pointed eyebrow, wordlessly letting his mate know that they would definitely be talking about this later. Zayn rolled his eyes but nodded, relenting and followed after Liam.

Harry shut the door and returned to his damp smelling bedroom. He quickly made work of stripping his bed of the soggy sheets and blanket tossing them on the laundry pile in the corner that needed washing when he returned home from his classes, for now he planned to hop in the shower and head down to his favorite little cafe just outside of campus before his classes—thinking that after a morning like this he deserved to treat himself to sometime hot and sweet.

Of course when he gets in the shower he nearly jumps three feet in the air when he finds there’s no hot water, washing up in record time he nearly leaps out of the tub, determined more than ever to pay the cafe a visit, thinking he may even splurge on a cookie or two for his troubles.

Leaving his apartment building he finds that his bedroom isn’t the only place it’s rained today seeing the streets are littered with puddles, just as Harry is contemplating whether he should dash back inside for his umbrella a shiny red sports car whizzes by him with a Ken and Barbie looking couple nestled in, splashing him and soaking the entire right leg of his beige skinny jeans.

Things cannot possibly get any worse he thinks as he tries shaking off as best he can but to little avail, he sighs to himself and approaches the door to the cafe only to look up and see the sign on the door says ‘Sorry we’re closed’.

_Fucking A._

Grumbling miserably to himself he trudged across the road to the overpriced Starbucks on the opposite corner, glum because he’s almost sure they don’t sell his favorite peppermint frappuccino that literally reminded him of Christmas in a cup.

He enters the busy establishment, lining up behind two people one a girl on her phone, loudly complaining about the boy in front of her who doesn’t seem to know what he wants. Harry thinks that’s uncalled for, not to mention rude. What if this were the blonde’s first time here, of course it would take him a bit to decide on what to order. He’s not usually one to meddle but he’s one more loud huff away from telling her where she can stick her coffee once she gets it when someone finally comes out from the back to open a second register.

She rattles off her order and promptly moves on to the pickup counter, the blonde still looks to be deliberating so Harry scoots over to the other register and orders a Venti (because he’s definitely going to need it judging from the way his day is going) Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino no foam, no whipped cream, extra skim to go and joins little miss iced vanilla latte at the pickup counter.

He’s chewing his lip, staring off into space as he thinks about Zayn and Liam and how much he really thinks this could be a good development for his friend when his name is finally called by a spritely bloke with a contagious smile and a pixie-like fringe, that he flicks out of his eyes before holding the cup out for the taking.

“Venti Peppermint Mocha Frap no foam, no whip, extra skim for Harry.” He prattles off with a smirk that clearly reads that he thinks Harry’s quite the tosser with a drink order like that. Harry frowns, moving forward to grab for his drink but just as he reaches for it another hand shoots out at the exact same time.

“Erm, wait no, I think you’re mista—I believe I’m Har...that’s _my_ drink.” He finally stutters out following the arms up to meet ocean blue eyes and a mile long grin.

“Do ya now? No, nope I believe it’s mine, my mocha frappa no foam whatever.” Harry just blinks slowly at the blonde because he’s quite possibly the hottest boy Harry’s ever seen and that’s saying a lot since he’s woken up beside Zayn after one of their wilder benders and if he wasn’t mistaken that was an Irish accent her heard coming out of the blonde’s mouth. A known weakness of his, he gave himself no more than a minute to ogle before he finally shook from his stupor the chill from the cup he held a reminder of the matter at hand.

“No but...” The blonde raised the hand not holding onto the drink, cutting off Harry’s protests.

“Nuh, uh, I’m not handing it over, don’t matter how pretty ya are. I don’t mess about when it comes to me coffee.” Harry commended himself on not blushing as he tried tugging the coffee closer to himself.

“But my name’s right there on i—“The blonde cut him off again by shaking his head, blonde hair catching in the sun shining in from the window.

“You want it, then ...to the death!” The blonde bargained and to Harry’s astonishment he actually relinquished his hold on the cup in order to roll his sleeves up and strike a comical fighting stance.

Harry stood too stunned to speak, as he looked back and forth between the boy and his frappuccino measuring out whether it was worth it or not. Finally he shrugged reluctantly, setting the drink down on the counter to put his own fists up wearily biting his bottom lip.

All at once the smaller boy was doubled over in laughter, hands literally holding his knees as he brayed like a bloody donkey or summat, Harry only wished he didn’t find it to be as attractive as he did.

“Jesus chief, you were really going to fight me, over a cup of java?”

“Um...” Harry hesitated more than a little embarrassed that the answer was yes, watching as the blonde reached for the cup once more turning it so that the name sloppily printed on the side faced him, his nose scrunching up suddenly.”

“Oh man, now I’ve done it. Sorry mate this isn’t my drink after all...my names not even Harry what was I thinking?”

“Huh?” Harry asked dazed as he tried his best to keep up.

“Hot Chocolate for Niall?” The same barista with the fringe called out and the blonde leveled Harry with a look, his eyebrows wiggling mischievously as he took the offered cup from the amused barista.

“ _That_ would be me love.” He said with a wink. Harry shook his head to clear it and finally just took his drink.

Glancing at his watch Harry realized that despite the many hiccups of the day so far he still had about an hour before his first class and with campus just a short walk from here he decided he had time enough to sit and enjoy his drink.

“Tommo!” He heard behind him in that same Irish lilt he’d just become acquainted with but didn’t dare turn around and instead found a table to call his.

He settles into his seat, taking his first heavenly sip and grudgingly admitting it didn’t taste half bad, though he still preferred the small cafe atmosphere to the bustling Starbucks with their confusing Irish blonde patrons. He pulls out his phone as something to do and sees he’s got four unread text messages.

The first is from Zayn that read a bunch of _oh shits_ and _sorrys_ , the second also from Zayn that simply said: _I’m coming down_. Glancing at the time stamp of both messages he saw that they were sent seconds before Zayn and Liam had knocked on his door that morning.

The third message was from Ed telling him he wasn’t coming to class today because he was still hung over _p.s Zayn lied Jack Daniels is not a pal at all_. Harry laughed to himself and thumbed open the last text this one from Nick that had two smirking emoljis a frosted donut, tempura prawn and an okay hand sign which all tolled translated to mean that Nick most definitely got laid last night and that Harry could look forward to hearing about it in great detail tonight.

He faintly heard the sound of the bells above the door ringing as someone left and he looked up oddly disappointed to find Niall gone, he guesses that on some level he’d expected the blonde to come over and join him at the table or something, not wanting their brief encounter to be their only one. He’s pouting into his drink and he knows it when the boy with the fringe who Niall had called Tommo before slinks up to his side, setting a plate with a chocolate chip biscotti on it down in front of him.

He’s walking away before Harry can tell him that he hadn’t ordered or paid for any biscotti. It looks delicious though and when his stomach suddenly growls reminding him that he’d left the house without even grabbing so much as a banana for breakfast he decides not to argue with someone giving him free food and brought it up to his mouth for a bite.

He paused midway though when he noticed the writing on the napkin the biscotti had been pillowed on.

_Harry,_

_Heard these things went well with mocha frappawhoknows so I had me mate Louis plate ya one up, I know it’s just a start to make up for trying to steal ya drink but maybe I can take ya out for dinner some time to really apologize?_

_Niall xx_

Below that at the very bottom of the napkin Niall had scrawled the seven digits of what Harry could only assume was his mobile number. He couldn’t help but smile, fingering the napkin as he brought the biscotti the rest of the way to his mouth.

Maybe this day wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
